Novak Djokovic delivers ‘once-in-a-lifetime moment’ to Ilia Malinin at Winter Olympics

ATP Tour

Djokovic delivers ‘once-in-a-lifetime moment’ at Winter Olympics

Serbian spends Sunday evening watching Ilia Malinin win figure skating gold for US

Phil Walter/Elsa/Getty Images

Novak Djokovic watched Ilia Malinin at the Winter Olympics on Sunday evening in Milano Cortina. By ATP Staff

Novak Djokovic is no stranger to excellence, and on Sunday evening he found himself appreciating it from a different perspective.

Just seven days after reaching his 11th Australian Open final, where he fell to World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the 38-year-old Serbian attended the figure skating team event at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina.

Djokovic, sitting alongside his wife Jelena, was visibly captivated by 21-year-old phenom Ilia Malinin after he had helped the United States to Olympic gold.

“I did see Djokovic, it’s so unreal,” Malinin said after his skate. “I heard that after I landed my backflip, he had his hands over his head. That’s incredible. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment: Seeing a famous tennis player watching my performance… I’m absolutely blown away.”

Click here to read article